Overstuffed furniture and a method of upholstering the same



Jul 17, 1956 Filed March 22, 1952 OUlN 2,754,893

A. DE R OVERSTUFFED FURNITURE AND A METHOD OF UPHOLSTERING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. e1? aux July 17, 1956 A. DE ROUIN OVERSTUFFED FURNITURE AND A METHOD OF UPI-IOLSTERING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Shae:

Filed March 22, 1952 INVENTOR. Medea De 1 90.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent OYERSTUFFED FURNITURE A METHOD or UPHOLSTERING SAME Amedee DeRouin, Providence, R. I.

Application March 22, 1952, Serial No. 278,027

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-184) This invention relates to improvements in overstuffed chairs, sofas, and the like and a method of upholstering the same.

Heretofore in upholstering overstuffed chairs, sofas, and the like, each portion of the chair covering was formed directly on the chair frame and there attached as the work progressed; that is, first the chair frame had to be prepared to provide a necessary foundation for the back and seat cushion springs. This operation required the step of attaching a web or the like across the open seat frame and the open back frame thereof. On' this webbing' the" spring ends for the seat and-back cushions -wereindividual- 1y attached to the webbing and the other end of the springs tied together by acord and the cord in turn at tached to the frame of the chair so as to hold the springs under proper tension and in proper relation to each other. After these springs were-tied in place, the same were cov ered by a relatively inexpensive material such as burlap and the edges of the burlap tacked to the chair frame. Oh this burlap covering was laidthe stuffingcomprising layers of excelsior or like material and layers of felted material. These were smoothed out to the approximate form of the required shape. The outer covering of the chair,- precut to shape and sewed where necessary, was placed over the stufling and each individual portion-of this outer covering in turn tacked to the frame of the chair. In making the seat rests or base on which the said cushion rests, the front portion of this rest 'required considerable sewing of the re'quji reti pieces of material forkforming this front portion for properly forming the same. Thus it will be appreciated that the art of upholstering furniture as above described requires highly skilled labor and is a relatively slow and costly process.

the ,parts of the article upholstered may be preformed and finished separate of the chair and after finished at.- tached to the .chair frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of upholstering a chair, sofa, and the like in which' the're willbe required a minimum of sewing of the outerflcovering of the chair or sofa.

Another object of the invention is' to=provide a method of upholstering a chair, sofa, andthe like which will be particularly adapted for the use of a-plastic sheet-material for the outer covering of the said upholstered article.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a method of upholstering a chair, sofa, and the like in which the seat and back cushions thereof will be made separate and in finished form. to be thereafter detachably attached to the chair frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article of the. above character which will be made at a comparatively low cost and which will be durable and satisfactory in use.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be 2,754,893 Patented July 17, 1956 more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

' In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an overstuffed chair embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view but omitting the seat portion thereof;

Figure 3 is an elevational front view of the back cushion of the chair;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the frame of the cushion shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5- is a sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a sectional view illustrating one of the stepsinvolved in upholstering the said chair of Figure 1';

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the frame of the chair seat;

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the seat spring foundation attached to the frame of Figure 7; V

Figure" 9 is a view similar to that shown in Figure 6'but I applied to the seat portion of the chair; and

Figure 10 is a central sectional view taken substantially along line 1 0*10 of Figure l but showing the seat and back cushion portion of the' chair in full.

Referring to the drawings for a more detailed description of theinvention, I have shown as by way of example an overstuffed chair designated generally 10' having a usual open frame construction. The chair fram'e corn prises an open back 11 shown in dotted lines in Figure 2',

"Which is joined to the front 12 by sides 13 providing an open center 14 and frame for receiving the seat. Each side '13 consists of an arm rest frame 15 and braces 16, 17 and 18. The braces 17 and 18 are positioned adjacent and at right angles to each other so as to provide a ledge 1-9 extending fromthe front to the back of the chair and substantially flush with the upper edge of the front 12. The back of the chair is additionally strengthened by means of a lateral brace 20 positioned between the lower and upper edge of the back. The chair frame may be further reinforced with corner blocks 17' extending be tween braces 17 and lower lateral brace 20 and secured in place in a usual manner. Feet 22 are usually provided and attached tOthC chair after the same is upholstered.

In proceeding with covering or upholstering the chair frame above described, which would involve substantially the same procedure in upholstering a sofa or'the' like piece of furniture, I cover each amt rest support 15' by applying directly to the arm rest frame the usual stuflin'g or filler, not shown, and over this filler a finished covering is placed with the edges thereof tacked to the chair frame, all in a usual manner. The front 12 of the chair and the sides of the frame of the chair not to be exposed are also covered with a like material which is also tacked in place. Thus the chair isprepared for receiving the backcushion and seat portion thereof.

For the seat portion S of the chair I make an open frame 24' (see Figs. 7 and 8) having sides 25, 26 properly joined at th'eir'meeting edges such as by gluing the same to" each other. The frame 24 may be made of any suitable material', preferably wood, and across the opening of the frame a' foundation for the springs of the seat is made by extending strips 27 of webbing laterally across the frame as shown in Figure 8. The ends of these strips 27 are attached in place to the frame 24 as by means of tacking the same as at 28. Thus, there is provided a resilient foundation or base on which I attach a seat spring unit designated generally 29. This unit 29 is of a construction well known in the art and comprises in general an open metal rectangular frame 30 to which the springs 31 are unit 29 is bought on the market as a complete assembled article and in the instant application requires merely that attached in proper position relative to each other. This the same be attached in place to the Webbing strips 27 as by means of clips, not shown, or any other approved attaching means Thus there is eliminated the usual prior art skilled operation of what is known as springing the chair or sofa, which as previously described, comprises securing individual springs to the webbing strip and tying the springs as by means of cords in proper relation to each other. The stufi'lng or filler designated 32 is usually provided in bat form and is placed in the instant disclosure directly on the spring unit 29 and the outer covering 33 is positioned directly on said filler, thus eliminating the usual boxing of the springs which consists of covering the same with an expansion material such as burlap. The operation of attaching the webbing 27 and spring unit 15 thereto and positioning the filler and outer covering 33 in place may be performed on a work bench which provides for a much more favorable condition for ease of assembling of the seat parts than in the prior art method of attaching these elements directly to the chair frame.

The assembly just described is then transported and positioned in inverted relation in a form 34, the cavity 35 of which is of the shape desired for the contour of said seat. The assembly may now be compressed within the cavity 35 to the desired dimensions as by means of a force applied by a hydraulic apparatus designated generally 36 having a platen 37 to engage the frame 24. With the assembly compressed to the desired dimension, the marginal edges 38 of the seat covering may next be turned over into engagement with the sides of the frame 24 and there tacked into position. Thus it will be seen that I have provided a seat for the chair which has an open bottom. This makes this type of seat particularly adaptable to a finished covering 38 made of plastic material as no air can be trapped within the seat structure to exert a force on seams which may be required to properly box the seat covering for a particular type of design. In the instant disclosure no sewing is required since the material at the corners of the seat may be folded in a well-known manner to avoid the making of a sewed seam. There is attached to this seat portion a key 39 (see Fig. which key when the seat is placed in position will rest on the ledges 19 and will engage with the back edge of the front 12 to securely detachably lock the said seat in position.

The back cushion C is made in a substantially similar manner and also includes a frame 40 (see Fig. 4) of the proper outer configuration and is provided with a Web foundation designated generally 41 made by means of strips 42 of webbing extending lengthwise and laterally across the frame as shown in this figure and with the edges of the webbing tacked in place as at 43. A spring unit 44 similar to that of the unit 29 but of a size appropriate to the back cushion is also attached to the webbing as by means of clips, not shown. The filler 45 is likewise placed directly over the spring unit 44 and the covering 46 positioned over this filler 45. These operations are also performed on a work bench and the complete assembly is transported to be received in an inverted condition in a form 47 having a cavity 48 of a shape to provide the necessary contour of the said back cushion C of the chair. The assembly is likewise compressed within the cavity 48 as by means of the apparatus 36 and the marginal edges 49 of the fabric 46 are then folded into contact with the sides of the frame 40 and there tacked in place. This cushion C is positioned on the chair frame as shown in Figure 10 so as to rest against the back 11 of the chair in contact therewith and is there secured such as by means of usual screw fastenings. A back covering 52 may now be attached to the back of the chair frame, thereby completing the upholstering of the said chair frame. Referring to Figure 10, it will be seen that the distance from front to back of the seat portion of the chair frame is greater than the corresponding dimension of the seat S providing a space for the corner blocks 17'. The seat S is higher than the lower edge of the back cushion which it engages to hold the back cushion in place. This space at the rear of the seat permits attaching at each corner a reinforcing corner block 17 without encroaching in the space occupied by the seat S.

It will now be apparent that I have disclosed a new method of upholstering chairs whereby certain portions heretofore difiicult to accomplish may be more easily and quickly performed, requiring less skilled labor, thereby saving materially in labor and cost of upholstering overstuffed furniture.

I claim:

An overstuffed upholstered chair and the like comprising a self-sustained chair frame having an open frame back portion and an open frame seat portion, a front panel at the lower front edges of the sides of said chair, a ledge projecting inwardly from said sides and with the upper edges of said ledge extending flush with the upper edge of said front panel, said upper edges providing a seat rest, a back cushion and a seat cushion, each comprising a self-sustained separate frame with upholstering over the separate frame to provide individual separable units, means to detachably mount the back cushion unit on the open back portion of the chair, and means to detachably mount the seat cushion unit on said seat rest, the lower portion of the back cushion extending below the seat cushion and contacted by the seat cushion so that the seat cushion holds the lower portion of the back cushion in place, and a lug projecting downwardly from said seat cushion to engage the rear side of said front panel to hold said seat cushion against forward movement and maintain the front side of the seat flush with the said panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 696,293 Wullen Mar. 25, 1902 1,585,279 Brandberg May 18, 1926 1,610,286 Hood et al Dec. 14, 1926 2,121,130 McGowen June 21, 1938 2,145,669 Thompson Jan. 31, 1939 2,151,985 Munroe Mar. 28, 1939 2,218,745 Detrick Oct. 22, 1940 2,347,617 Story Apr. 25, 1944 2,440,470 Greitzer Apr. 27, 1948 2,459,889 Lyon Jan. 25, 1949 2,553,042 Hoven et a1 May 15, 1951 2,597,860 Gerber et al May 27, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,708 Great Britain 1897 463,420 France Dec. 16, 1913 

